Tourism as a vehicle for local economic development in small towns? When things go wrong: The case of aliwal north, South Africa

Abstract

Post-apartheid local economic development (LED) issues have been of central concern in South African economic planning. The aim of this investigation was to examine the challenges of tourism-led LED in Aliwal North, a small town in South Africa. It shows that despite the many tourism products that could potentially be deployed as a development driver for LED in this town and its hinterland, a range of challenges have frustrated such ambitions. Challenges involve poor management of key tourism products, a lack of targeted and coordinated marketing activities of the destination and a lack of a coordinated stakeholder relationship in the broader destination region, as well as limited management capacity and funding.